


The Death of Dragons

by orphan_account



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
Genre: Alternate Families, Alternate Universe - Pre-Canon, Arranged Marriage, F/M, House Stark, Implied/Referenced Child Death, Possibly Unrequited Love, Wordcount: 100-1.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-29
Updated: 2015-12-29
Packaged: 2018-05-10 03:50:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5569900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Black Aly and the Old Man of the North discuss the Pact of Ice and Fire, thus explaining why it was never fulfilled, and Cregan predicts Robb Stark's coronation a hundred and fifty years before it happens.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Death of Dragons

**Author's Note:**

> This is set in a universe where Aly Blackwood is Cregan's third wife and the only one to give him (living) children: Jonnel, Barthogan, Lyessa, and Brandon.

"I'm surprised at you."

Cregan raised an eyebrow at his wife of two decades and the mother of his four children, his three surviving sons and his only surviving daughter. "What have I done now, Aly?"

"It is not what you have done, it is what you have _not_ done."

"I do love riddles."

Aly rolled her eyes and said, in the voice of a mother speaking to an unruly child, "Prince Jacaerys once promised you a royal bride for your house. The king has been generous with you since he came of age, but he has yet to announce a betrothal. Jonnel ought to be betrothed, if not married, soon, and the king has three daughters. Press your claim, and we'll have a royal gooddaughter. Few houses can claim that."

"Yes, and we must thank centuries of incest for that distinction."

She huffed.

Cregan returned to his letters. "I have no intention of marrying any of our children to Targaryens. It is true thst I do not have a bride for Jonnel yet, but I will soon. I am already negotiating with Lord Ryswell and Lord Karstark for Barth and Brandon, and Lyessa will have no one except that Umber boy. I see no reason to deny her."

"You want our children to marry Ryswells, Karstarks, and _Umbers_ instead of Targaryens?"

"I do."

"Will you at least do me the courtesy of explaining why?"

He dipped his pen into the inkpot again. "Did you hear about what happened to Vermithrax?"

"That stunted little dragon that hatched a few years ago?" Her brow furrowed. "What about it?"

"It died."

She looked at him expectantly.

"Torrhen Stark bowed to the dragons for the sake of his smallfolk. There are no dragons, not anymore, and there have been whispers... People talk about the king and his sons, even of his brother and nephews. They say that every time a Targaryen is born the gods flip a coin, for good or for ill, and we, of all people, remember what happened when they decided to go to war. Who knows what could happen in another twenty years? In a century?"

"You don't mean to crown yourself King in the North, do you?"

"I will not claim a crown, no, but it might be given to me. Or to our son or grandson."

She pressed her lips together. "Don't commit treason. I have grown passing fond of you over the years."

"I make no promises." He hesitated before saying, in a carefully nonchalant tone of voice, "And I have grown fond of you too."

He almost couldn't say it. He almost laughed.

Twenty-two years ago, Alysanne Blackwood had marched into the Tower of the Hand and told Cregan Stark that he could have her, as his wife, if he released Corlys Velaryon from his imprisonment.

Cregan had agreed because he needed heirs after two childless marriages and because there was something about her — fearsome Black Aly, heroine of the Battle of the Kingsroad, with her black eyes and perpetual scowl.

Cregan had agreed to her offer when he hadn't considered that of Princess Baela and Princess Rhaena, and he had never told her why. He feared her scorn and her laughter too much.

"Is that all, Alysanne?"

"Yes, it is." She studied him for a second before leaving as quickly as she had appeared.


End file.
